REGIONAL BRIEFING

Authorities say the two stepped in front of an Ellicott City man driving on West Springs Drive. Police say they don't expect to charge the man, who witnesses said wasn't speeding.

-- Associated Press

THE DISTRICT

Prayers for Call Girl

About 150 members and clergy of the Fourth Street Friendship Seventh Day Adventist Church offered prayers yesterday for Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the high-priced prostitute allegedly involved with New York Gov. Eliot L. Spitzer.

The church, at Fourth Street NW, decided to pray for Dupre during its regular Saturday services after learning that she wrote about being abused and homeless on her MySpace page before going to work for the Emperors Club VIP.

Dupre has no connection to the church, but each Sunday, Fourth Street feeds homeless District residents in its kitchen. That's part of the reason the church put Dupre on its prayer list.

"We're not a body who judges. Individuals who are homeless often do things to survive and don't know really what they're doing," said Andrew Harewood, Fourth Street's pastor. "So many people are focusing on the governor or what she did for a living, but no one seems to be focusing on this young girl and praying for her."

-- Keith L. Alexander